Doctoral Degree Procedures
Criteria and Procedures for New Programs
The Office of Academic Affairs expects that each doctoral program proposal will:
Demonstrate program need at the state and/or national level (national level required for doctoral proposals).
Provide evidence that program graduates will be nationally competitive and demonstrate that the program of high quality (especially doctoral) will provide outstanding contributions to Georgia.
Provide evidence that doctoral graduates will be capable of creating knowledge and contributing to their discipline or area through a career of research and/or scholarship.
Provide evidence that applied doctoral program graduates can apply knowledge, serve as leaders in the field, and aspire to excellence in professional practice.
Demonstrate full financial program support through an institutional commitment of resources sufficient to guarantee program excellence and/or the ability to obtain external resources.
Build upon existing graduate program strengths.
Identify highly qualified program faculty with national and/or international reputations, researching and publishing in primary refereed journals (books, or other venues) as appropriate to their discipline, who have experience directing doctoral dissertations and also cover an array of subspecialties in their discipline or area; and enough full-time tenured and tenure track faculty to assure that the program will not be built on part-time or temporary faculty.
Show that the program has a clear plan to socialize doctoral students into the discipline or area by teaching, participating in research and research conferences, or having some other clearly delineated professional socialization experience.
Show that plans are in place for doctoral program students to experience practica, internships, and clinical placements, as appropriate and demonstrate high institutional standards are in place to guide terminal academic research and advanced professional dissertations.
Show that goals are in place for normative time to degree, with consideration of how to help students complete their degrees in a timely manner.
Demonstrate financial support is available or may be obtained for most full-time graduate students during their studies; if possible, stipends large enough to attract highly qualified students.
Demonstrate that, if the program is in a discipline or an area in which specialized or professional accreditation is available, it will attain accreditation in a reasonable time.
Provide evidence of the institutional resources that will be expended specifically for this program (e.g., personnel, library, equipment, laboratories, supplies & expenses, capital expenditures and other, etc.) at two times during the development and maturation of the program: at initial start-up and during the program’s first comprehensive program review.
Process for Review of Doctoral Program Proposals
The Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia’s purpose in reviewing proposed new programs is to examine the new program proposal in the context of the Board of Regents/ University System of Georgia academic operations, state needs, and the USG strategic plan.. A primary goal of the Board of Regents/ University System of Georgia is to offer high quality educational opportunities for the citizens of Georgia. With this goal in mind, new doctoral program proposals should use the process defined below. The process involves two stages: a letter of intent (e.g., preliminary proposal) and a formal proposal.
STEP ONE: Letter of Intent
The institution’s purpose for writing a letter of intent is to alert the Board of Regents/University System of Georgia and System institutions of new program development at the institutional level. This submitted letter of intent should address the following issues and may be submitted electronically or in hard copy format:
Programmatic information – name, classification, CIP code. Ensure that the degree nomenclature is aligned with national, regional, and state norms as well as accrediting body prerequisites, where applicable, for the discipline with due consideration for accurate representation of the program content, facilitation of promotion and marketing, and consistency with nomenclature of similar degrees.
Description and objective of the degree – one page abstract suitable for presentation to the Board of Regents.
Program fit to institutional mission and to nationally accepted trends in the discipline.
Program demonstrates a response to demand and is justified within the discipline/ geographic region/state/nation and is not unnecessary program duplication.
Institutional resources that will be expended specifically for this program (e.g., personnel, library, equipment, laboratories, supplies & expenses, capital expenditures and other) at two critical times: a) program start-up, and b) when the program undergoes its first comprehensive program review.
Review by the Board of Regents/University System of Georgia
The letter of intent will be posted by the Office of Academic Programs on the Academic Programs web site for informational and institutional feedback. The Board of Regents/University System of Georgia review will be based upon the aforementioned criteria for evaluation of doctoral programs. An approved letter of intent is required before a formal proposal will be reviewed.
STEP TWO: Formal Proposal
A formal proposal will be developed and submitted after approval for a letter of intent has been garnered by the institution from the Office of Academic Programs. The formal proposal should address the following issues and may be submitted electronically or in a hard copy format:
Basic information: Name of institution, institutional contact (President or Vice President for Academic Affairs), institutional contact for program, school/office, department, name of proposed program, degree, degree inscription, major, CIP code, starting date.
Ensure that degree nomenclature is aligned with national, regional, and state norms and accreditation, where applicable, for the discipline with due consideration for accurate representation of program content, facilitation of promotion and marketing, and consistency with the nomenclature of similar degrees.
Curriculum.
Student admissions criteria.
Availability of assistantships as well as outcomes associated with the program inclusive of careers/jobs available to graduates.
Anticipated student learning outcomes associated with completion of the proposed program.
Administration.
Accreditation.
Projected enrollment, revenues, and expenditures for the first three years.
Facilities implications of the proposed program.
Inventory of faculty directly involved. For each faculty member, give the following data: name, rank, highest degree, degrees earned, academic discipline, current workload for a typical semester, explanation of how workload will be impacted with the addition of the proposed program; expected responsibilities in the proposed program. If it will be necessary to add faculty in order to begin the program, give the desired qualifications of the persons to be added, with a timetable for adding new faculty and plan for funding new positions.
External Reviews – each institution will provide a list of five to eight reviewers from aspirational or comparable programs/institutions, and should include an explanation of why these reviewers are suggested. This list should not include individuals who the department or institution has consulted during the process of program proposal development.
Review by the Board of Regents/University System of Georgia
Upon receipt at the system office, the formal proposal will be forwarded for external review by the Office of Academic Programs. The Office of Academic Programs will also consult the appropriate Regents Advisory Committee(s) (e.g., academic or administrative committees) for additional review of the proposal. The program review staff will make a recommendation regarding acceptance of the proposal to the University System Chief Academic Officer & Executive Vice Chancellor.
System-wide Review
As part of the process for reviewing letter of intent and formal proposals, the Office of Academic Affairs will disseminate to all University System of Georgia institutions, on a regular basis, a list of program proposals under consideration, and will invite interested parties to request a copy of the proposal for review and comment. Information received through this process will be considered in evaluating the proposal.
Follow-up Review
Should the program be approved, it will, during its seventh year of operation, undergo a review by the University System of Georgia Office of Academic Affairs commensurate with the institution’s comprehensive program review timetable. This review will evaluate how well the program is meeting the expectations that were laid out in the formal proposal.